Ferrous scrap importers in Pakistan and Bangladesh stay largely silent except for a few small volume deals for shredded in Pakistan and for HMS in Bangladesh. The celebrations of Eid-al-Adha are likely to keep trading and banking activities closed during the week.
Pakistan
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, increased to $541.75/mt cfr Port Qasim, up $0.61/mt from Monday. Despite Eid holidays, few buyers booked small volumes of shredded at $540-545/mt cfr Qasim to restock dwindling inventories.
In the domestic market, rebar prices remained at PKR160,000-160,500/mt ex-works Karachi and PKR159,000-159,500/mt ex-works Punjab. Local rebar offers were above PKR146,000/mt ex-works Lahore. Due to a shortage of ferrous scrap and the resulting rise in input costs, mills revised asking prices for rebar.
Offers for domestic Bala billet, Tuesday, were at PKR130,000/mt ex-works unchanged from Monday. However, domestic scrap prices rose by PKR1,500-2,000/mt for Art Q toke scrap (equivalent to a mix of HMS and P&S) and Pure Q toke scrap (equivalent to shredded) to PKR100,000-100,500/mt and PKR102,000-102,500/mt ex-yard Lahore, respectively on Tuesday.
Bangladesh
Most market participants stayed away from trading amid Eid-al-Adha festivities. Steel mills slowed productions on shortage of labours and sluggish finished steel sales in the retail markets.
The country is set to enter another bout of stringent lockdown for two weeks, starting July 23. Demand for imported ferrous scrap is likely to stay dull during the period. For shipbreakers, offers for scrapped vessels have hit $600/ldt.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded on Tuesday rolled over at $552.5/mt cfr Chattogram as buying came to standstill amid the Eid holidays. Trades for shredded is expected only after holidays.
On weak domestic demand, HMS bids lagged present offers. The daily index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US was unchanged at $532.5/mt cfr Chattogram in a silent market. The indexes for Australia and UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) in containers were stable at $527/mt and $519/mt cfr cfr Chattogram, respectively.
The daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America, Tuesday, settled at $515/mt cfr Chattogram, down $1/mt. Deals of small volumes were heard. In Latin America, domestic prices have softened by upto $10/mt.
Taiwan
Taiwanese imported ferrous scrap offers stabilized after a slight drop last week. The daily Davis Index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $455/mt cfr Taiwan, down $1/mt from Monday. Trades were reported in the range of $455-457/mt cfr Taiwan against offers of $460-462/mt cfr Taiwan. A decline in Japanese prices is likely to extend amid slow demand.
($1=PKR160.85, BDT84.76, TWD28.09)